Monday, April 21, 2008

On The Mark -- What Is A Blogger?

Bloggers are younger and higher percentages are Hispanic & African American than the general population. A higher percentage of Democrats than of Republicans are blogging.

Now that Blogging might better be called a market segment rather than a market niche, it's useful with regard to positioning the marketing message to understand what a Blogger looks like, as distinguished from the rest of the population.

According to the BIGresearch Simultaneous Media Survey, 26% of all adults say they regularly or occasionally blog. Of those:

53.7% are male44.7% are married28.4% hold a professional or managerial position10.4% are students.

Bloggers tend to be younger, averaging 37.6 years old, compared to 44.8 for adults 18+ (the "general population"). Ethnically:

69.7% of Bloggers are White/Caucasian (vs. 76.1%)12.2% are African American/Black (vs. 11.4%)3.7% are Asian (vs. 2.0%)20% of Bloggers are Hispanic, compared to 14.8% of adults 18+

In addition, Bloggers report a lower income ($55,819 vs. $56,811) and are better educated (14.3 years of education vs. 14.2).

Political blogs are becoming increasingly common, especially in this election year, where 24.6% of registered voters say they regularly or occasionally blog. Political affiliation of regular/occasional

Bloggers look like this in 2008:37.6% of Libertarians regularly/occasionally blog26.9% of Democrats25.7% of Independents22.9% Republicans

Analysis of Bloggers shows that they are using most forms of new media significantly more than the average market.Regular/Occasional New Media Usage (Top 5)

Although Bloggers are more likely to use new media, the analysis finds that more conventional forms of media trigger their Internet searches. Magazines, at 51.6%, rank highest, followed by:48.8% reading an article46.1% broadcast TV44.5% cable TV42.5% face-to-face communication39.7% newspaper

Gary Drenik, President of BIGresearch, concludes ?"Bloggers are a diverse group and not who you would expect..."

So you've had a toner mishap

Nothing ruins your day like a toner mishap. Nothing, that is, except the heartbreak of psoriasis or the realization that you're not just going through a phase but, instead, have begun the last and most soul-numbing portion of your life. But first, how to clean up a toner spill!